SDR recordings of SWL, HF, & MW

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A Realistic DX-300 back from the dead!

This video is a bit different from my others. It is of a vintage Realistic DX-300 shortwave receiver, which was brought back from the dead. I had to replace the AC line cord, put in a new electrolytic filter capacitor and also replaced the burned out bulbs with white LEDs. This is a short video of it in operation. These receivers were from the late 1970s into the early 1980s and featured Wadley loop design.

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2 comments on “A Realistic DX-300 back from the dead!”

I am in the process of replacing all electrolytic capacitors in a DX-300. All three incandescent bulbs are burned out…what LED’s did you use, and what mods did you make to them to get even lighting on the meter & preselector displays? Thanks,

You need to use leds with a wide diffuse rating, which means their light emission is spread out over a wider range rather than a conventional led offers. They emit light with an intense fixed beam. An old trick is to use a very fine piece of sandpaper, 600 grit or higher and sand them very, very lightly to increase their light diffusion. Remember to add a 180 ohm resistor in series with them for proper voltage drop. I used 12v leds, which worked fine. Color choice would be up to you. I stuck with white as it was closet to the OEM incandescent color.